October 2003
Bureaucracy, High Society, Media, Politics GAOM continue to release details of their planned Christmas Festival, which will take place during the first weekend of December. GAOM are hoping that the Festival will become a yearly event and will promote their improved public face. A slight shadow has been thrown over the proceedings however following Sean Bowden’s announcement that the supposed allegations he has been sitting on for the last few months will be released during the opening night of the event. GAOM are currently involved in a court action to try and censure the ex-MP, or at least delay the speech until after the Festival. Bureaucracy, Industry, Police, Transport GAOM continue to request block bookings of refrigerated trucks for the December period, supposedly for the transportation of fissile materials across the city. Whilst they claim that this is for the construction of a new reactor (where remains to be seen as no building works for new power stations or similar are currently taking place within the city) the quantity required does not correlate with the request. So far only thirty vehicles have been secured, unusual given the quantities that would be required for the safe transportation of such materials. More worrying is the fact that Castelan have so far not developed a Security Schedule to escort the materials into the city, a risky proposition given the potential number of terrorist groups that could be interested in the material. Transport, University GAOM’s plans to transport fissile material into the city in refrigerated trucks do not ring true. Fissile materials have to be maintained at a temperature of around 100 degrees Celsius for safe transportation. The question is then why do GAOM require so many refrigerated vehicles? Industry, Media, Police, Politics, Street, University Local university students have begun low key protests against GAOM’s intention to transport fissile material across the city in December. The protests have so far concentrated upon the fact that Stoke is supposed to be a Nuclear Free City and that this also prohibits the transportation of such materials. However, a smaller group of the protestors have begun to focus on the possibility of collusion between GAOM and the local council, although no evidence of this has yet been produced. Rumour has it that these elements may in fact be linked to Peer 19, although this is purely based upon the anti-GAOM (and by extension Castelan) stance that the group has operated in the past. High Society, Media, Politics The big news continues to be the planned interview of Andrew Sant on the 5th December 2003. The interview has tentatively been scheduled for 9pm and will be broadcast for television by the local company Reed Communications. In a canny piece of political manoeuvring, ex-MP Sean Bowden has also managed to secure the same time to release information supposedly damning Castelan. Bowden has been sitting on this information for a while now, but has given no clues as to what it actually is. However, his recent involvement with the Susan Willis case may shed a little light on the situation, especially given the information she could potentially hold about Castelan. Finance, High Society, Industry, Media How did Reed Communications manage to secure an interview with Andrew Sant? The truth is they didn’t, instead they were approached by Sant with a view to broadcasting the interview. Reed will have no involvement in the manner in which the interview is to be conducted, but have merely been given exclusive rights for the broadcast and its subsequent distribution. So far the Chairman of the company, Charles O’Brien, has not commented upon the matter, but it is believed that GAOM have offered a significant sum for the use of the studio’s facilities for the day. Industry, Media, University Interesting job opportunity of the month, how would you like to be a member of Technical Staff during the broadcast of the Andrew Sant interview? Whilst GAOM seem content to borrow Reed Communications facilities it seems that the technical staff at Reed are not quite up to scratch (which is unusual given the high degree of innovation that comes out of the company). Instead GAOM are insisting that the program be developed and run by non-Reed staff in order to maintain tighter control of the manner in which the show is aired. Finance, Legal, Media, Politics Remember the Crimson Jihad (sic)? Even though they’ve been quiet of late it doesn’t mean they’ve been resting on their laurels. Rumour has it that the group has been brokering a deal between GAOM and the Evening Sentinel, with the view to the latter being taken under the wing of the former. However the deal has been complicated by the death of Susan Willis last month. Although Castelan’s investigations showed that Ms. Willis died as a result of being “Drunk in Charge of a Vehicle”, an independent autopsy by the family indicated that no alcohol was present in the bloodstream. Coupled with the collapse of the trial of Ms. Willis, the deal has now been put on hold until investigations into possible irregularities have been carried out. Finance, Industry, Legal, Politics Three members of the group Crimson Jihad (sic) are being investigated after they reportedly tried to purchase six military grade Helicopters on behalf of GAOM. The three have not been charged (due to the fact that they all were in possession of valid permissions to trade in arms), but the reason why they were purchasing such items on behalf of a civilian contractor is still being investigated. Meanwhile the rest of Crimson Jihad (sic) have attempted to distance themselves from the three in order to minimise damage to their society ahead of the financing of GAOM’s Christmas Festivities. Bureaucracy, Legal, Police, Politics Why do Castelan require military grade helicopters? For that matter why would any civilian law enforcement agency require them? Whilst Castelan have certainly been wiling to use force in the past, the need for such combat style vehicles has never been an issue. Even if the need were to arise for an intervention on a scale requiring such military hardware, wouldn’t there in turn be a military involvement? Or would a local constabulary (or its civilian equivalent) be able to undertake such proceedings? All of this is hypothetical of course, as there hasn’t been a need to implement such a policy in this country for well over a hundred years. Finance, Industry, Media City Financiers are reporting a rise in the city’s fortunes following a record number of large scale credit transfers over the last month. The volume of traffic seen by local banks indicates that money may once again be coming into the city, prompting local business to once again invest in the city’s infrastructure. All of this of course is dependent upon the city’s economy remaining stable following such high volume movements, a proposition that may be easier to deal with in terms of a theoretical model than an actual one. Finance, Industry, Legal, Politics Whilst much has been made of the number of financial deals that have been made over the last month, one aspect that has been kept very quiet is the fact that the majority can be traced back to members of Crimson Jihad (sic). This could of course mean nothing, especially given that the majority of people in the city who have the financial muscle necessary to implement such a policy are undoubtedly members. However when taken into consideration with their supposed other activities this month (arms dealing and brokering a deal for GAOM to take over the city’s major paper) then it would appear that the philanthropists group is once again trying to make its mark upon the city. Health, Legal, Media, Police An independent investigation has been requested by the family of Susan Willis following the results of a second autopsy. Ms. Willis was found to have no alcohol in her bloodstream despite her cause of death being recorded as “Drunk in Charge of a Vehicle” by Castelan. However local authorities aren’t keen to raise the issue due to Castelan’s continued losses due to the “Endon Butcher”, as it is feared that the combination of both financial and political pressures upon the company (and its parent GAOM) could force them to renegotiate their current contract or pull out of the city altogether. Media, Politics, Street, Underworld Eight months after his death and the effect of Steven Thomas’s actions are still felt across the city. Following his death (some would say murder) at the hands of Castelan following a botched rescue attempt, the primary focus has been on whether the law enforcement agency operated illegally in the matter. However recent intelligence garnered from sources point to the possibility of a second terrorist cell lying dormant in the city. The belief is thought to have arisen after the discovery of arms being transported from the east of the country (having probably arrived from mainland Europe) were intercepted by Castelan Officers during a routine stop and search in Endon. Along with the seizure of explosives last month (which has since been linked to the increasingly prolific Daughters of the Desert) does this mark a new beginning for terrorism in the city? Street, Underworld Given that the G8 Suppress cell that was operating in the city was supposedly a splinter faction (and more importantly that all members of that cell were reportedly killed in a rescue attempt) why have rumours of a second (or is that third?) cell begun to emerge? One possible reason is that Castelan (and by extension GAOM) are feeling the pinch due to the resources they are having to plough into the “Endon Butcher” case, and a perceived terrorist threat would be a legitimate reason for them to claim further monies from the city treasury. Media, Police, University Castelan are continuing their search for the “Endon Butcher” after another month of terror for the area. A further twelve murders have occurred in the last thirty day period, and still the investigators are drawing a blank on possible suspects. The proposed satellite imaging system failed to produce any results when it was found that the imaging software was not of a high enough resolution to read the data. Still Castelan remain unperturbed by the set back and are now considering either house to house searches or mass DNA testing across the city in an effort to catch the killers. Media, Occult, Police So who is the “Endon Butcher”? Details continue to emerge regarding their possible identity. It has been established that the killer is definitely male, based purely upon the strength that would be required to undertake the attacks. It can also be assumed that the killer must be local to the area, given that the high degree of local knowledge that has been used to so far evade capture. However details beyond these aspects remain sketchy at best. However one possibility that is beginning to gain credit is whether the killer is in fact someone in authority, or at least respected within the community, given that no signs of forced entry have been established at any of the murder scenes. Media, Police, Politics, Street Castelan have stated that they fear that the “Endon Butcher” may have established a “Vigilante Culture” in the city after reported sightings of “The Samurai” began to emerge from the area. “The Samurai” (a mysterious figure who know one seems to have been able to establish the identity of) has been popping up across the whole of the city of late, although his methods (and targets) have become a little less controlled than in his early days. Castelan released a joint statement with local MP’s stating that whilst they supported a sense of community spirit and protection, anyone found to be involved in vigilantism would be dealt with severely. In the mean time they are also widening their search for “The Samurai” following reported sightings on the rooftops of Hanley. Occult, Street “The Samurai” hasn’t been involved in anything. Castelan have once again developed a list of persons acting against them and are arresting anyone they wish on the pretence that they are “The Samurai”. If you ask me (and not a lot of people do so I just tell them anyway) Castelan may be acting all nice on the surface, but deep down they’re still the same corrupt businessmen with to much power in this city. Church, High Society, Media The funeral (and subsequent cremation) of “Grandfather Gambino” passed with no incidence, despite a feared attack from the Daughters of the Desert. Indeed, aside from the level of attendance, there was little out of the ordinary about the funeral, although the attendant media coverage was toned down following requests from the family. Elsewhere, the Italian community celebrated the life of “Grandfather” with a three day street party. Events culminated in a firework display. Church, Health, Occult, Underworld It’s unusual that Grandfather Gambino was cremated, as anyone involved with the mafia tends to end up buried (by whatever means). However, rumour has it that Castelan insisted on cremation on supposed “Health Grounds”, as the autopsy apparently showed that the body was a host for some form of communicable disease. However this goes against the other rumours stating that the body was uncorrupted, although no one actually managed to substantiate either of these claims. Meanwhile the search continues for other members of the Gambino’s following their mass disappearance, but as of yet no leads have been forthcoming. Occult, University The first strange occurrence of the month, as soon as they had cremated Grandfather Gambino, the storms that have plagued the city over the last two or so months subsided, no one can come up with any explanation. Second strange occurrence of the month, the chief scientist responsible for collecting data on the storms disappeared shortly afterwards. Again, no one has yet managed to come up with a plausible explanation. Police, Transport, Underworld How did Castelan know exactly which vehicle to stop last month when they intercepted the Daughters of the Desert attempting to smuggle explosives into the city? As far as anyone can ascertain no previous intelligence has led to the group smuggling arms on such a scale. Furthermore, how did they know which vehicle exactly to stop given that over three quarters of a million vehicles use the motorway each day? Media, Police, Street, Underworld Milk sales seem to have fallen over the last month, as both Castelan and criminal alike stamp down on those caught selling it. It seems that even the lower parts of society are objecting to its use as a recreational drug, claiming that it is bringing undue attention upon those who choose to sell other types. However, the drug has begun to gain a cult following around some areas of society, as the local underground cultures use it as a means of experiencing “The Many Faces of Death”. Whatever! Occult Setatum larips citeneg. Etah fo hcraes ni dlrow eht srednaw. Lorntoc fo tuo, luos eno, deen eno. Etaf secils noitcilffa gniworg. Setatum larips citeneg. Sega eht hguorht nwod dessap. Gninaem no sekat epahs tneloiv. Etah ot thgir eht etaitnatssub. Media, Occult You spend a month waiting for explosive bodies and then five come along at once. Cases of Spontaneous Combustion are once again it the news, with five reported incidents over the last month. Once again all were apparently victims shortly after sunrise, although further connections between them cannot be found. Hey, maybe this is just some sort of weird epidemic.